Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan had a multi-week No. 1 hit with “Buy Dirt” in 2022, earning Davis a CMA Award later that year for Song of the Year. The Louisiana native wrote the song with his brother, Jacob Davis, along with Josh Jenkins and Matt Jenkins, while on a writing retreat just outside of Nashville.
“Matt’s a great singer, a great writer,” Jacob recalls to iHeart‘s God’s Country, “We were at this cabin and I had actually — I say slept in, but we’d been up pretty late, and I woke up at probably 8:00. I go to the coffee maker, and the coffee pot’s almost empty. And these boys, all three of them — Jordan is a pretty early riser — but they’re all out on the back porch, just in the Word, man, just reading the Bible, and just trying to get set in for the day, what it’s going to be like.”
It was Jordan who had the idea for “Buy Dirt,” which was originally “Bought the Farm,” a song he says was inspired by a lyric, “What you gonna do with time after you already bought the farm,” which was from John Prine’s “When I Get To Heaven.” It was an idea that paired well with the “Buy Dirt” title Matt already had.
“I had just come back from the 4th of July, been with my wife’s family,” Jacob remembers. “My father-in-law told this story about his dad who told him … he was looking at a piece of property and his dad told him, ‘You better go get it, son, they ain’t making any more of it..’ And so I had that in my phone and I was like, ‘Dude, there’s something that we can do with this.’
The four men, who wrote the song in about an hour and a half, wrote it from the perspective of a 90-year-old man, sitting on a porch, inspired by Jordan and Jacob’s own grandfather.
“It was our grandpa that had two acres in Stonewall, Louisiana, and had a little fishing pond behind it,” Jordan shares. “To him, that two-acre, three-bedroom house with a purple Martin bird house and a little pond was everything. You couldn’t have told him any different. It was pretty. So that’s where that one came from.”
“Buy Dirt” was already completed when Davis had the idea to send the song to Bryan, to see if he would join him on the track.
“Luke has a farm and has strong beliefs about faith and family, so I knew [‘Buy Dirt’] could resonate with him,” Davis previously told The Tennessean.
“I knew I loved listening to the song. I didn’t know what to expect, and if what I was typing would highlight how much the song meant to me,” he added. “I was so nervous to send [Bryan] the text that I must’ve read it over 20 times.”
Fortunately, Bryan loved “Buy Dirt” the first time he heard it, and quickly agreed to join Jordan on the song.
“I love trying to make life easier for people if I can,” Bryan said (via 94.3 Kat Country). “I think ‘Buy Dirt’ would’ve been amazing for Jordan Davis whether I’m on it or not but if just me being a part of that helps get him some more notoriety and helps grow his artistry…I don’t want anybody patting me on the back for it. I want people celebrating Jordan Davis for writing an amazing song.
“I mean, they’re telling me ‘Good job’ like I had something to do with it, and the first thing I said is, ‘Hey, I’m honored to be a part of it. Jordan asked me,'” he added.
Davis followed “Buy Dirt” with two more No. 1 singles, both “What My World Spins Around” and “Next Thing You Know.” He’s back at radio with a Top 15 single, with “Tuscon Too Late.” Find all of his music and upcoming shows at JordanDavisOfficial.com.
